Floy
A feminine given name of English origin meaning "red-haired".
Name Census estimates that about 626 living Americans carry the first name Floy. It is a predominantly female name (95.3% of registrations). The average person named Floy today is around 83 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Floy births was 1918 (241 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Floy. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • Although Floy is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 323 boys registered with the name since 1880.
- • The typical person named Floy is about 83 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Floys were born before 1953.
People living today
626
~ 1 in 547,531 Americans
Peak year
1918
241 babies that year
Average age
83
years old
1952 SSA rank
#3,923
Tracked since 1880
Census
Floy in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,203 people with the first name Floy, which placed it at #10,879 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#10,879
National first-name rank
People counted
1.2K
1,203 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
78.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Floy
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Floy is White at 78.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (9.5%) and Black (7.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Floy described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Floy at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White78.6% · 945
- Hispanic or Latino9.5% · 114
- Black or African American7.7% · 93
- Two or more races2.3% · 28
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.1% · 13
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 10
Gender
Gender distribution for Floy
Floy leans heavily female at 95.3% of total registrations, but 323 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Floy as a male name
- Ranked #3,923 in 1952
- 5 male births in 1952
- Peak: 1919 (17 births)
Floy as a female name
- Ranked #6,829 in 1971
- 7 female births in 1971
- Peak: 1918 (225 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Floy leans strongly female. 1,063 people counted with this name were female (88.6%), compared with 137 male bearers (11.4%).
Popularity
Floy: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Floy from the 1880s through to the 1970s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 1,669 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Floy by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Floy during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Floys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 21 states and territories. Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma recorded the most babies named Floy, while South Carolina, Pennsylvania, North Dakota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 147 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Floy
The given name Floy is a feminine name that has its origins in the Old French language. It is derived from the Latin word "florens," which means "blooming" or "flourishing." The name was likely brought to England by the Norman conquerors in the 11th century.
During the Middle Ages, the name was occasionally used as a variant spelling of the more common name Florence. It was particularly popular among the aristocratic classes, as it evoked images of beauty, grace, and vitality. The name was sometimes Anglicized as "Floy" or "Floye."
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Floy can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of landholdings in England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The book mentions a woman named "Floy de Beaumont," who held lands in Warwickshire.
In the 14th century, a notable figure named Floy de la Roche was a French noblewoman and courtier. She served as a lady-in-waiting to Queen Philippa of Hainault, the wife of King Edward III of England.
During the Renaissance period, the name Floy gained popularity among the literary circles of England. Floy Pye was an English poet and playwright who lived in the late 16th century. Her works, though largely forgotten today, were celebrated during her lifetime.
In the 17th century, Floy Canning was an influential English businesswoman and philanthropist. She was a prominent figure in the City of London and played a key role in the establishment of several charitable institutions.
In more recent history, Floy Quintos was a renowned Filipino playwright and screenwriter. Born in 1932, she was a pioneer in the development of contemporary Philippine theater and was recognized with numerous awards for her contributions to the arts.
Another notable individual with the name Floy was Floy Turner, an American singer and actress who lived from 1904 to 1988. She was a popular performer on Broadway and in Hollywood musicals during the 1920s and 1930s.
People
Floy + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Floy as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with F
Other first names starting with F with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Floy: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Floy?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 626 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Floy going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 547,531 US residents.
Is Floy a common name?
We classify Floy as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 6,935 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Floy most popular?
The single biggest year for Floy was 1918, when 241 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Floy is about 83 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Floy in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,203 people with the name Floy, or 0.40 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,879 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Floy in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Floy?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Floy leans strongly female. 1,063 people counted with this name were female (88.6%), compared with 137 male bearers (11.4%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Floy?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Floy is White at 78.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (9.5%) and Black (7.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Floy most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Floy in the 2020 Census, accounting for 78.6% (945 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Floy in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Floy a female name?
Yes, 95.3% of people registered as Floy in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Floy still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Floy in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Floy can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people share the name Floy?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.